Rathi Jafer

Rathi Jafer has experience of over 10 years in conceptualizing, managing and monitoring the delivery of large-scale education and arts projects involving diverse groups in South India, South Asia, the UK and more recently, South Korea. She is a PH.D holder in English Literature from the University of Glasgow and a certified examiner and trainer for the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES). Since 2006, she has directed The Indo-Korea Cultural and Information Centre, a non-profit society. This all-India center promotes intercultural dialogue between India and South Korea by facilitating a range of programs that draw on the rich traditions of both countries. Previously she held leadership positions at the British Council in Chennai and an editorial position at British India Publications.

Rathi has delivered papers on diverse topics in Colombo, Oxford, Manchester, Tokyo, Seoul and elsewhere. She is a trustee of DakshinaChitra Museum, Adishakti Laboratory for Theater Art Research, and a member of the Council of Directors of the Kodaikanal International School.

JAGGANATH PANDA

Born in Odisha in 1970, Jagannath Panda is an Indian Asian Modern & Contemporary painter. Many important museums and galleries, including Nature Morte and Dhan Mill, have displayed Jagannath Panda's art. His works can also be found in the Mori Art Museum in Fukuoka, Japan, the Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi, the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, and the Hindustan Times in New Delhi. He has appeared in illustrious publications like The Hindu, Hyperallergic, Ocula, and ArtDaily.

He was a visiting researcher at Fukuoka University of Education in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1997. He has received the prestigious Lalit Kala Akademi Research Fellowship, the Orissa State Lalit Kala Akademi Scholarship, and the Government of India's Junior Research Fellowship. He has also received numerous awards, including the Centre Prize, C.I.I.C London, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society Award, New Delhi, among others. Another achievement is his participation in the Khoj International Residency in Delhi and the International City des Arts in Paris.

ADITYA ARYA

Aditya Arya is an eminent commercial and travel photographer. In 1980, he started taking photographs for a living. His work has been widely published in books and travel magazines all over the world. He is renowned for his skills in commercial and corporate photography, with a focus on food, interiors, and products.

Mr. Arya has been essential in the development of the Neel Dongre Awards/Grants for Excellence in Photography and the India Photo Archive Foundation in recent years. He currently splits his time between Museo Camera, South-East Asia's largest nonprofit photography museum, and his picture archive. He was on the jury for many national exhibitions, including the Lalit Kala Akademi's 2014 National Art Exhibition. He has also organised numerous national and international exhibitions of historical and contemporary visual works. The National Museum in New Delhi, the Salarjung Museum in Hyderabad, the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, as well as galleries and museums in Canada, London, France, and Spain, are among them.

Mr. Arya was a visiting professor at Jamia Millia Islamia University's Institute of Mass Communication and the Sri Aurobindo Centre of Art and Communication. He was also the Director of the Academy for Photographic Excellence, one of India's premier photographic schools.